Love your leeks and cabbage too

November 7, 2026

There’s a lot of cabbage available at the market right now. Unless you’re Irish, you’ll probably walk right past it.

What a shame! Cabbage will surprise you when given the chance. It’s not only ridiculously good for you but also surprisingly versatile and affordable. It also comes from a very good family, counting  kale, cauliflower, and broccoli as kissing cousins.

The word cabbage is derived from the French word caboche, which is street slang for “head.”

In English, we call someone who isn’t very smart a “cabbage head.” And yet, smart people know that cabbage, especially Savoy cabbage and Chinese cabbage, delivers in the kitchen, filling out soups, pierogies and stews. Cabbage is also quite delicious on its own, as in this recipe for roasted cabbage with walnuts and parmesan or this recipe for charred cabbage with miso browned butter

And of course, it is impossible to make proper Baja fish tacos without shredded cabbage, though many have tried.

Leeks are also plentiful right now. They are part of the allium family and have been around for thousands of years. In fact, Nero believed that eating leeks would improve his singing voice. And, fun fact, in the Sixth Century AD., the Welsh made leeks their national symbol because they were convinced that the leeks they wore on their helmets helped them win wars. Leeks, which look like scallions on steroids, are cousins of garlic and onions but are much more subtle and delicate in flavor. The smaller the leek the more tender it will be. Use leeks anywhere you would use onions, as in a soup base, for example, when you're looking for flavors that aren't quite as audacious.

Leek and potato soup is, of course, a classic, and with good reason. In France, they like to roast leeks whole as in this recipe for braised leeks with parmesan or this recipe from SugarMaple Farm.

Either would make for a lovely side dish for Thanksgiving, as would this root vegetable gratinwhich has no leeks but celebrates all that our farmers are harvesting over the next few weeks.

This week, pitmaster, Jeremy of SMOK'D joins us and will be running a cooking demo at the market at 10 a.m. And, Croton Trading Co. returns with their delicious apple butters made entirely with local apples.

Concord grapes are still plentiful on the Cardonna Farm tables so why not grab extra this week to make your own grape jelly or jam?